• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Male Survivors Bay of Plenty

Male Survivors Bay of Plenty

  • Home
  • About
  • Peer Support
    • What Is Peer Support
    • Peer Support Practice Guidlines (PDF)
  • Services
  • Partners
  • News & Events
  • Resources
    • Policies
    • Research
    • Publications
  • Contact Us
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Reliving abuse at Dilworth: ‘I was conditioned not to say anything’

MSA · Dec 18, 2020 ·

Historical abuse suffered at the hands of some fellow students and staff at Dilworth School have been outlined to the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care.

Neil Harding, who is 55, went to the Anglican boarding school in Auckland in 1977.

A number of men are before the courts charged with indecent assault relating to historical abuse at the school.

Harding was 11-years-old when he started at Dilworth.

He describes it has a harsh military-style establishment that brutally punished those who did not conform immediately to the Dilworth way.

It was brutal and I saw quite quickly there was injustice. There was all sorts of stuff going on that was a real shock to me.

Harding said the boys were not treated as individuals and were often referred to by just a number.

He said the culture in his dormitory was a free for all.

The older kids did just what they wanted to the younger kids and I just don’t think we were supervised adequately I would say. The degree of supervision allowed the boys to do what they did. It was a consequence of whatever supervision was or wasn’t.

A lot of the violence was student-on-student, he said.

Read full article

News

About Us.

Male Survivors Bay of Plenty is a registered charitable trust established to support male survivors of trauma and sexual abuse. We provide peer support, counselling and social services throughout the Bay of Plenty. We are a member organisation of Male Survivors Aotearoa.

Copyright © 2023 · Male Survivors Bay of Plenty · Crafted with ♥ by Responsive

  • Privacy Policy
  • Our Policies